


The Most Perfect Gift

by Mandibles



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Domestic, Fluff, Grunt having a tea party, I can't write fluff to save my life, James and Shep being disgustingly cute husbands, James being protective of his little girl, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-16
Updated: 2012-06-16
Packaged: 2017-11-07 22:04:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/435949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandibles/pseuds/Mandibles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>M!Shep, Vega, and their daughter Ashley. And, adopted son Grunt, because yes. From the kinkmeme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Most Perfect Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this prompt:  
> If Miranda's father can create a daughter with only his own genes then surely, someone out there has to have devised a way to give two men a baby that is both of theirs genetically. 
> 
> I want that.
> 
> I need that. 
> 
> In any combination of Shepard, Vega, or Kaidan. (Or hell, write it with whoever you want. I'm game.)
> 
> Bonus for Grunt feeling kinship with this test tube child. (Hey, he was tank grown.)

  
She’s so much like James, it’s endearing. Besides the way she tackles the dog and chews with her mouth open, she looks like him, too. That’s probably the best part of it all, really. You can see his browline when she scrunches her face to cry, his nose when her nostrils flare angrily. She even has his doofy little grin which she shares with everyone she meets.  
  
And, she’s perfect.  
  
Shepard gets jealous sometimes, though. He knows that she’s a fifty/fifty combination of their DNA and all that, he knows, but she’s so, so much like him in so, so many ways, he doesn’t feel like he contributed anything. The thought fills him with guilt. It’s something small, something he keeps in the back of his head, but the fact that it’s there at all hurts.  
  
Even now as he watches James give Grunt the usual pre-playdate “You break my girl, I break your dick” speech, he can’t help but admire just how she’s grown into her Papi’s features. He’s torn between his dying love for her and his entirely selfish, childish wish that she looked a little more like him around the eyes, in the shape of her face.  
  
He hates himself for it.  
  
Shepard smiles when James walks to the porch, leans into him when his arms wrap around him. They exchange a gentle kiss.  
  
“Mm, look at our little girl, loco.”  
  
Shepard does and chuckles as Grunt adjusts the flowery, yellow hat on his head and carefully, carefully accepts the small teacup. “Both of them.”  
  
James laughs, kisses his head. “True! And, aren’t they beautiful?”  
  
“They are,” Shepard says a little tightly. “Ashley has your eyes,” he says offhandedly.   
  
A warm exhale. “What are you talkin’ about? She’s got your eyes, loco.”  
  
“No, she doesn’t.”  
  
“Does, too! Her eyes are green, like yours.”  
  
“Wrong. They’re brown, like yours.”  
  
“Bullshit. You’re her dad and you don’t even know what her eye color is!”  
  
Shepard snorts and pokes James’ chest. “I should be saying that to you! It’s obvious she looks more like you!”  
  
James looks aghast. “That’s not true! She looks like both of us.”  
  
“Pfft. No she doesn’t.”  
  
“Does too.”  
  
“Does not.”  
  
“Uh-huh.”  
  
“Nuh-uh.”  
  
They mock-glare at each other, then burst into laughter and kisses. James’ arms tighten.  
  
“Hazel.”  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“Her eyes, John,” James says, pressing his face against his husband’s. “They’re hazel, a bit of both of us. Like the rest of her.”  
  
Shepard frowns guiltily. “Really?” he says in a small voice.  
  
“Of course. Hell, even her skin’s in-between ours.” And, it’s true. Ashley is lighter than James, but darker than Shepard. Right in the middle. Right in-between. A little bit of both of them.  
  
An appreciative smile. “She’s a brute like you, though.”  
  
A nip to an ear. “Yet, somehow still a goody two-shoes, like you.”  
  
They exchange looks.  
  
“I love you.”  
  
“I love you, too.”  
  
This time when they kiss, it’s deep and warm and Shepard can’t help but moan, low.  
  
“Buh, groooooss!”  
  
“Yeah, Shepard. Didn’t take you as the kind to fuck with an audience.”  
  
James snaps away from the kiss. “Oi! Watch your mouth around my daughter, dickweed!”  
  
Shepard rolls his eyes and whaps his husband’s face. “Why don’t you watch yours?” Still, he’s beaming from ear to ear when Ashley runs over and hugs him. She flashes that awkward smile of hers and it pulls at his chest, because he can see it now, see how she isn’t just him or James, but both.  
  
He ruffles her hair. “We love you, too, sweetie.” He spots Grunt shift from the corner of his eye. “And, you too, you lug.”  
  
The Krogan grins and, not for the first time in his life, Shepard's eternally grateful for the perfect family he never thought he would have.


End file.
